Mass Effect: Saints of the Terminus
by YiZhong
Summary: The Saints Private Security and Solution Company is one of the best private security companies in the Terminus. But when the Saints get hired by an unknown client to carry out what seemed like an easy job, they are instead thrust into conflict with a group that would do anything to remain in the shadows. Even if it means destroying the Saints. Takes place in the year 2183.
1. Here Come the Saints

Zhong Yi turned the corner to avoid a barrage of bullets that were being shot at him by a group of security personnel. _This information better be worth it_, mused Zhong to himself as he unholstered his M-6 Carnifex from its holster. Zhong proceeded to fire of a few shots at the security personnel that was firing at him while he was still in cover. Zhong activated his ear piece communication device, "Pierce, where the hell are you ? I need an immediate evac," yelled Zhong Yi to the person that was in charge of his extraction. Finally Pierce replied Zhong while he was in the middle of returning fire to the security personnels that were inching closer to his position. "Hold on man, I'm getting shot at out here as well ! " exclaimed Pierce over the communicator. _God damn it_, mused Zhong at the current predicament that he and his team was in.

Zhong pressed his earpiece to contact another one of his team that was on the surface to ascertain her current status. "Shaundi, what's your situation at your end ?" asked Zhong as he fired another burst of shots back at the security personnels that were inching closer and closer. "I'm good boss, minimal resistance on my end. Making my way back to the extraction point." Zhong got back behind cover as one of the security personnel's shots hit his shields. "Belay that, Shaundi. I need you to help me take down some fuckers that are shooting at me," said Zhong to Shaundi. Zhong waited for Shaundi's reply, finally Shaundi replied, "I'm on my way boss."

Zhong fired another burst of fire to the enemy while he remained in cover. Zhong checked on his weapon's current thermal clip, there was only two more shots left in that current thermal clip and he had only two more thermal clip left. Zhong heard the intensity of gunfire increase and then it suddenly stopped. Zhong peered out of cover to see what had just happened. What he saw was Shaundi standing triumphant over a body of a dead security personnel. Zhong got out of cover and made his way over to Shaundi, "Nice job Shaundi, these fuckers never stood a chance." Shaundi smiled and confidently replied Zhong, "Of course they never stood a chance, they had to deal with me." Zhong chuckled slightly at Shaundi's comment. Zhong activated his earpiece, "Pierce, are you still there ?" asked Zhong. There was no reply, only static. "Pierce ?!" called Zhong again. Finally Pierce replied Zhong, "Yes I'm here, no need to shout man. I just had to turn off all communications to mask my second approach into the extraction point. You better hurry though, I think they will be coming back pretty soon." Zhong signaled Shaundi that it was time to leave.

Zhong and Shaundi made their way to the extraction point while under heavy fire from security personnel. Zhong and Shaundi would return fire to them whenever they got the chance to do so, taking down a few of the guards. When Zhong and Shaundi finally reached the extraction point, they were irritated to see that Pierce was not there to pick them up. "Where the hell is Pierce ?" asked Shaundi to Zhong while she fired her M-9 Tempest sub-machine gun towards the enemy. Zhong returned fire with a M-8 Avenger riffle to the enemy while he replied Shaundi, "I have no idea. But if we ever survive this, I'll probably give him a piece of my mind." Suddenly a purple coloured UT-Kodiak shuttle flew over the extraction zone and proceeded to fire its mass accelerator canons at the enemy's position, killing most if not all of them. Zhong's earpiece then came to life, " Anybody call for a pickup ?" said Pierce on the other end. Pierce then maneuvered the UT-Kodiak to land on the extraction zone to pick up both Zhong and Shaundi. Zhong and Shaundi immediately boarded the shuttle as soon as the shuttle's door swung open.

"That was close. Very close, " said Pierce to both Zhong and Shaundi as he inserted commands into the UT-Kodiak to climb out of the planet to rendezvous with the _MSV Saint's Glory_ that was in orbit over the planet. "Let's not do that again," Zhong said to Pierce as he sat down in the co-pilot seat.

"What's on the datacard anyways ?" asked Shaundi as she sat down on one of the UT-Kodiak's benches. Zhong took out the datacard that was stored in one of his armor's compartment and scrutinized it. Zhong turned the co-pilot seat around to face Shaundi, "I bloody hope that is worth it. We nearly got killed out there to get this datacard," replied Zhong.

The purple colored UT-Kodiak entered the MSV Saint's Glory's hangar bay and then landed. The MSV Saint's Glory was a former System Alliance Cruiser which had served during the First Contact War. Zhong Yi salvaged the Saint's Glory from an Alliance scrap yard when the Saints were just starting up their operation. The Saint's Glory was the Saint's mobile base. The doors to the UT-Kodiak swung open and Zhong, Shaundi and Pierce stepped out of the shuttle which they managed to "requisition" from a rival private security company. Pierce turned around to look at the UT-Kodiak which he had dubbed as his "baby" , "Oh damn, look what they did too her ? It's going to take me the whole day to get those paint scratches painted over," said Pierce with a hint of sadness in his voice. Zhong patted Pierce on his back, "Suck it up Pierce. And I thought you loved working on your 'baby', " said Zhong jokingly to his good friend. Zhong and Shaundi then made their way to the Saint's Glory's elevator to take them up to the ship's tech bay. The last thing that Zhong saw before the doors to the elevator slid close, was that of Pierce making his way to the hangar bay's equipment lockers.

Zhong and Shaundi exited the elevator and proceeded to make their way to the ship's tech bay to decipher the data that was stored on the datacard they have just stole from New Dawn Pharmaceuticals. Zhong was rather perplexed, for an average looking pharmaceutical company, New Dawn Pharmaceuticals had military grade encryption on all of their data as well as well as heavily armed security personnel that could easily repel any pirate raid. Most of the clients that hire Zhong and his small private security and solution company the Saints, only hire them to go after small pirate gangs or to protect their cargo from pirates, steal information from corporate bases of little significance that were lightly defended or just hire them to provide private security for an event or an individual. This job was the first time in which Zhong and his crew had meet the most resistance since joining the private security and solution business.

Zhong and Shaundi both entered the tech bay once it's door slide open. The tech bay's light were all turned off and the only source of light seem to be coming from a single computer terminal that was located at the other end of the room. But even the light that was coming from the computer terminal was being blocked by a figure that was working on it.

"Why are all the lights off ?" asked Zhong while standing still as to not hit anything. "I like it like this, I can think better. Nothing to distract me," said the voice that was coming from the other end of the room. Zhong's eye which has already adapted to the room's dark surrounding due to ocular implants that he had installed in his eyes could see that Shaundi was just standing there with an irritated look on her face.

"Come on Kenzie, turn the lights on. We got something that we need you to look at," said Zhong to his tech expert Kenzie Kensington. "Can't you just come to me in the dark, I mean you have those ocular implants that let you see in the dark anyways. Might as well use it," replied Kenzie who was still busy at work at her computer terminal.

"Well I might be able to see in the dark, but Shaundi can't," explained Zhong to Kenzie who was still absorbed in her work. "Hey, a little offended over here," said Shaundi immediately after hearing Zhong's statement. "Sorry Shaundi," apologized Zhong immediately. Kenzie let out a huge sigh, "Fine, I'll turn on the lights. Computer, lights." The lights of the tech bay then came to life, revealing a messy tech bay which contained various different equipment that was strewn about on the floor as well as on the work benches. Zhong looked to Kenzie who had turned around to face both him and Shaundi, "Is this why you turned the lights off ?" asked Zhong while pointing to all the various equipment that were on the floor and the work benches.

"Hmm, probably," replied Kenzie as she went back to her work. Shaundi who was standing next to Zhong did not say a word, instead she just nodded her head disapprovingly at the tech experts' untidiness. "So what do you have for me ?" asked Kenzie while still glued to her computer terminal's walked over to Kenzie while trying his best not to step on any of the equipment that was strewn on the floor. Zhong handed Kenzie the datacard, which Kenzie took from him and inserted into her computer's data port.

"Quadruple level encryption protocols with replicating security algorithms. Impressive," thought Kenzie aloud. Zhong and Shaundi who were standing next to Kenzie looked at each other before Shaundi spoke, "Can you crack it?" asked Shaundi. Kenzie who was typing very fast replied Shaundi while she was still typing, " I just need to find the code which replicates the security algorithm and stop it before it replicates more complicated security algorithms and then I need to use a de-fragmentation protocol to break up the quadruple level encryption, or maybe I could use that new decryption protocol that I made," answered Kenzie in regards to Shaundi's question.

"Err, so is that a yes ?" asked a confused Shaundi to Kenzie. Kenzie who was busy typing away replied Shaundi, "Yes, I can crack it," replied Kenzie in plain simple English.

"How long do you need to decrypt the datacard Kenzie ?" asked Zhong to his eccentric tech specialist. Kenzie who was absorbed with her work did not turn around to answer Zhong or even stop what she was doing, "No too long more, " replied Kenzie. Zhong rubbed the back of his head upon hearing Kenzie's answer, " Got an estimate ?" asked Zhong to Kenzie, wanting a more definite answer. "Done," said Kenzie immediately after Zhong finished his question. Zhong was impressed by his tech specialist skills. Zhong knew that Kenzie was good, but never thought she was this good.

"So what's the information that was stored on the datacard?" asked Shaundi who leaned down to see the data that was on Kenzie's computer terminal. Kenzie entered a few commands into her terminal to bring up more information that was stored within the datacard. Zhong was also curious as to what information the datacard contained. Not too long ago, he, Shaundi and Pierce put theire lives on the line to get this datacard.

Kenzie finally turned around to face both Zhong and Shaundi to inform them what information the datacard held. "The information on the datacard was bank transfer records between New Dawn Pharmaceuticals and an unknown party that list itself only as C. Other than that, nothing." Zhong's face darkened, "This is what we risked our lives for ? A fucking bank transfer record ?" said Zhong angrily. Shaundi gently stroked Zhong's shoulder, "Calm down boss. No use getting upset." Zhong let out a huge sigh a frustration and proceeded to leave the tech bay.

"Where are you going boss ?" asked Shaundi to Zhong who was about to leave the tech bay. Without turning to face Shaundi, Zhong answered her, "I'm going to give a piece of my mind to the bloke who hired us."


	2. Deepening Mystery

Zhong Yi entered the MSV Saint's Glory's communication room to try and contact the bloke that hired them for the last mission that nearly ended in a disaster. A mission which was supposed to be an easy one. But before he can contact the client, he had to get the client's contact information from the Saint's public relation officer and mission specialist Viola DeWynter. Viola was working on her computer terminal when Zhong entered the communications room. "Zhong, what can I do for you ?" asked Viola to Zhong who was making his way to her.

"Viola, I need information on the bloke that hired us from the last mission. I need to talk to him about the mission and about hazard pay," answered Zhong in regards to Viola's earlier question. Upon hearing Zhong's request, Viola's fingers danced across her computer terminal's touch screen keyboard to retrieve the information. Viola signaled to Zhong that she had retrieved the information about the client that hired them for the last mission. Zhong proceeded to walk over to Viola's computer terminal to get the client's information. "Where's his name and location ?" asked a frustrated Zhong to Viola as he read the client's information. Viola turned to face Zhong, "The client wanted to remain anonymous. But he gave a means of contacting him when the mission was over," answered Viola who could see that Zhong was frustrated. Although Zhong Yi was the leader of a private security company operating in the Terminus, Zhong Yi unlike many leaders of other private security groups cared for the people under his command and gets really angry when a client lies to him and the Saints about the difficulty of the mission.

Viola fingers once again danced across her computer terminal's interface to retrieve the contact information that Zhong wanted. "It says to contact him on frequency one three zero decimal nine and to use a secured connection," informed Viola to Zhong. _What's with all the secrecy? I don't like it,_ mused Zhong as he received the information from Viola. "Can you establish communications with the bloke ?" asked Zhong to his public relations and mission specialist chief. Viola's fingers once again danced across her computer terminal's interface to enter Zhong's commands. "Done. Just go to the main communication terminal and I'll establish a line," informed Viola to Zhong who was standing behind her. Zhong then proceeded to leave for the main communication terminal that was located at the other end of the communication room in a smaller room

Zhong entered the small room in which the main communication terminal was located in. Zhong pressed one of the terminal's touch sensitive buttons, "Ok Viola I'm ready," informed Zhong to Viola who was outside of the small room. "Alright, establishing network link now," told Viola to Zhong. Zhong tapped his feet on the communcation room's deckplate while he waited for the screen in front of him to come to life. Finally the screen came to life, revealing a middle age looking Asian male. Before Zhong could even utter a word, the middle aged Asian male spoke, "Is the line secured ?" asked the client with a hint to fear and caution in his voice. Zhong nodded his head, "Yes it is." A sense of relief could be seen washing over the middle aged Asian man's face. "We have something to talk about," said Zhong to the Saint's most recent client, not even wanting to know the clients name. Not yet anyways. The client nodded his head, "I'm suspecting it is hazard pay due to the difficulty of the mission ?" said the client to Zhong. Zhong's eyes widened upon hearing the client's statement, "You knew it was going to be that hard ?" asked Zhong who was starting to get angry. The middle aged Asian man replied Zhong, "The Saints are not the first private security company I approached. I approached the Blue Suns, Black Star, and Eclipse. But none of them could get the job done. I'm actually surprised that you managed to survive the mission." Zhong was now angry, "No one makes a fool of me or the Saints. Or puts my crew in danger without me knowing the full mission parameters." The middle aged Asian man looked at Zhong without remorse before replying the Saint's leader, "It was necessary. The information you have acquired is more important that you would know. Just meet me on Bekenstein in the financial district and all shall be answered."

"Why can't I just transfer the information to you via a secured link ?" asked Zhong when he heard that he had to go to Bekenstein to drop off the information that he had just recently required. The client shook his head, "No, the information is too vital to be transferred over the extranet. Come to Bekenstein. I assure you I will pay you handsomely," said the client. Zhong shook his head, "Fine, we'll meet on Bekenstein." The middle aged Asian man nodded, "Thank you. You won't be disappointed." The figure of the client then disappeared from the screen signaling that their conversation was over. Zhong rubbed the back of his head upon thinking about the new phase of the mission that he had just agreed to. I just hope there are no more surprises, mused Zhong before pressing a button to contact Viola. "Viola, let Pierce know that we are going to Bekenstein," informed Zhong to Viola so that she could pass on the message to Pierce who was most likely still down in the shuttle bay fixing his "baby". "Alright, I'll let Pierce now," said Viola over the intercom. Before Zhong could leave the comm room, Viola came on the intercom again, "Zhong just letting you know, Johnny said that he will meet us on the next planet we go planet side on," informed Viola to Zhong. Zhong tapped the the terminal to reply Viola, "Tell him to meet us on Bekenstein"

**Serpent Nebula,**

**Boltzmann System**.

The Saint's Glory dropped out of FTL and immediately made its way to Bekenstein. Zhong was in the Saint's Glory's armory with both Shaundi and Angel. Due to the almost disastrous outcome of the previous mission, Zhong was not taking any chances this time. Shaundi checked the status of her M-9 Tempest while Angel equipped some grenades on his utility belt. "So what do we know about this guy boss ?" asked Shaundi to Zhong who was loading his M-5 Phalanx pistol with its thermal clip. Zhong holstered his weapon before answering Shaundi. "I have no idea. I asked Kenzie and Oleg to dig up some information on him but they came up with nothing. All I know that what ever he needs on that data slate is important. And he is afraid of something or someone."

"Do you think we will encounter anything like the last job ?" asked Shaundi to Zhong again. Zhong looked to Shaundi before replying her, "I sincerely hope not. But if we do, we're more than prepared for it," said Zhong while cocking his M-12 Locust sub-machine gun into its firing position. Zhong, Shaundi and Angel then made their way out of the armory and proceeded to make their way to the Saint's Glory's hangar bay.

Zhong, Shaundi and Angel exited the lift when the lift's doors slid open, revealing a Pierce who was tinkering the UT-Kodiak dropship that will transport them down to Bekenstein. Pierce finished up what he was doing before addressing the Saint's Glory's shore party. "Please tell me this mission would not include the dropship being shot at," said Pierce to Zhong who was standing in front of him. Zhong shrugged his shoulders, "I have no idea Pierce. Anything could happen while we're down there. I hope we don't get shot at," replied Zhong to Pierce. Pierce let out a huge sigh, "If you do get shot at, please only call me in when the shooting stops. I just repainted the dropship," said Pierce who was following behind Zhong, Shaundi and Angel into the dropship. "You worry too much Pierce," said Shaundi as she stepped aboard the dropship. "I worry because I'm the one who has to end up fixing the dropship if it gets damaged. If it gets damaged, what am I going to take extract your asses out of the fire," replied Pierce to Shaundi as he stepped aboard the dropship before making his way to the drophip's cockpit. Angel who has quite the whole time finally spoke, "Worrying too much can cause you to make mistakes as you are not concentrating at the task at hand," advised Angel to a worried Pierce. Zhong nodded in agreement with Angel's statement before gently tapping Pierce on his shoulder before he sat down in the pilot's seat, "It's going to be alright Pierce. Just concentrate on flying the dropship and we'll all be fine," said Zhong before he took a seat in the UT-Kodiak's co-pilot seat. Pierce then sat down in his pilot seat and proceeded to bring online the UT-Kodiak's system to prepare for launch.

The UT-Kodiak flew out of the Saint's Glory's hangar bay and immediately entered a descent vector to enter the planet's atmosphere. Pierce's fingers danced across the UT-Kodiak's control panel as he brought the dropship into dock at the part of the spaceport that was assigned to small crafts. The Kodiak finally touched down in the plat form that was reserved for it. "I'll just stay right here and wait for you guys. If you need an extract, just call," said Pierce to the rest as they made their way out of the Kodiak's exit hatch.

The Kodiak's exit hatch opened, and the sight that greeted the Saint's shore party was that of Johnny Gat. "Johnny, did not expect to see you so soon," said a smiling Zhong to his friend and the co-founder of the Saints. "The mission I was assigned to ended earlier than expected. So I made my way here as soon as was finished," explained Johnny to Zhong as to why he was on Bekenstein ahead of schedule. "We could always use an extra gun on hand if things so south with this mission," said a happy Shaundi. Johnny just smiled at his friend's statement.

"I got the mission parameters from Viola and have a skycar waiting for us to take us to the financial district," said Johnny to the rest of the Saint's shore party while signaling to the spaceport's exit. Zhong chuckled slightly, "Lead the way Johnny," said Zhong to Johnny. Zhong, Shaundi, Johnny and Angel then made their way out of the spaceport to the sky car that was waiting for them.

The skycar drove past traffic as it made its way to the financial district of Bekenstein's capital. "So who is this guy we're meeting ?" asked Johnny as he drove the skycar towards the financial district. Zhong who was sitting next to Johnny replied him, "No idea who the bloke is. Just know that he is paying us a shit load of credits for this information that we nicked from the last mission." Shaundi who was sitting in the rear passenger seat of the skycar also commented on who the unknown client might be. "Probably he's some intelligent agent with the Alliance or some police force," commented Shaundi. Zhong shook his head upon hearing Shaundi's statement on the possible identity of this unknown client before replying her, "No. He's too agitated and scared to be an intelligence agent. Most probably he's some paper pushing bureaucrat." The skycar that Johnny was driving turned left into the financial district of Bekenstein.

Johnny parked the skycar in one of the empty parking spaces in the financial district. The Saint's shore team stepped out of the skycar and proceeded to make their way to the rendezvous point with the unknown client. The rendezvous point was in one of the small alleys located behind the busy streets of Bekenstein's financial district. Although it was an alley, this alley was unlike many alley ways as it was clean and not covered with rubbish. "I don't like this," voiced a concerned Shaundi to the rest of the shore party as they had yet to make contact with the unknown client. Zhong who was taking point agreed with Shaundi, "Me too Shaundi. After the last mission I don't want to be stuck in the same bloody situation again." Johnny who was scanning the roof tops to look out for any signs of a possible ambush commented about the shore party's current situation, "We're more than capable of taking down any people that are foolish enough to shoot at us." Angel who was guarding the rear offered a rebuttal to Johnny's statement, "One must not be too over confident when facing an unknown enemy or factor. Lest you want to fail."

"Bloody hell," exclaimed Zhong was he saw a face down body covered in a pool of blood in front of him and the shore party. Zhong kneeled down and turned the body over and saw that it was the client that hired them. "Shit !" exclaimed Shaundi who was standing behind Zhong. Before Zhong and the rest of the Saint's shore party could react to the new situation, they were being targeted with half a dozen of laser sights coming from the roof top. "Fuck !" exclaimed Zhong upon realising that he and the rest of the shore party had been surrounded.

The hooded figure lined up the sniper rifle to take a shot at Zhong Yi before she tapped her earpiece to activate it, " Dr. Li has been neutralized. But there has been a development. The people that raided one of our front companies are here. Should I neutralize them as well ?" asked the female hooded figure.

The mysterious figure who was sitting down in his chair looked out of the giant window in front of him that overlooked a red giant. He took a puff from his cigarette before replying the hooded figure, "There is no use killing them. They know nothing. Even with the data they acquired, it is useless without someone who can decipher it. Report back to base for debriefing" The mysterious figure took another puff out of his cigarette before he ended the communication.

Zhong didn't like the be caught in a bind. And this is as tight as a bind as it can get. Then as quickly as the laser sights had trained on them, it disappeared. The only one that remained came from a single hooded figure that was on a rooftop directly above Zhong and the rest of the Saint's shore party. Shaundi, Johnny and Angel trained their weapons on the hooded figure but did not take the shot as the hooded figure's sniper riffle was still trained on Zhong. The hooded figure than lifted her sniper riffle and with it the laser sight that was trained on Zhong. As soon as the laser sight had disappeared, Zhong quickly drew his M-5 Phalanx and proceeded to release a burst of fire towards the figure as did the rest of the Saints that were with him. The hooded figure erected a biotic field to protect herself from the incoming barrage of bullets before activating a tactical cloak to make her get away.

Zhong let out a sigh of frustration, "I want to know who these fuckers are. And when I get my hands on them I'll make sure they will pay for messing with the Saints." Shaundi nodded her head, "I'm here with you boss. No one messes with the Saints and gets away with it," said Shaundi. Johnny just nodded his head in agreement with Zhong and Shaundi as did Angel. Zhong then tapped his earpiece, "Kenzie you there ?" Zhong waited for a reply, "Kenzie here. What's up ?" replied Kenzie to Zhong's call. "Kenzie I want you to go over that data that we nicked from the last mission. See whether there was anything we missied. Get Oleg to help you as well," said Zhong to Kenzie who was on the other end of the line. Zhong waited for Kenzie's response, "Ok, I'll go over it with Oleg. I'll get back to you soon," replied Kenzie.

Zhong tapped his earpiece again to contact another person, "Pierce, we need a pickup." Zhong waited for a response from Pierce, "You guys are not getting shot at right ?" asked Pierce. Zhong nodded his head, "Just get the fuck down here Pierce," said Zhong to Pierce who was at the other end. "Alright, alright, I'm on my way," replied Pierce.

Zhong looked at the body of the now deceased client and mused, _"Whoever these guys are, they are no pansies. But who are these guys ?" _


End file.
